In my family I have used 2 Orthodontist, Exeter and Spark. Myself, my oldest daughter and my oldest son all used Exeter and we all have had wonderful results. Exeter's braces cost $3999 and when I came to Spark their price was close to $5200 I believe. My daughter loved the looks of this place. Something straight out of a glamour magazine. What I liked about this place compared to Exeter was that it was closer to home and they expressed to me that their hours are way more flexible with all of their staff.
Ok now to the good stuff, they haggled with me to try and switch my business. I told them that I'm not going to pay $1200 more for the same product. They came down with a price, I declined again, set up with an appointment with Exeter and they called the day before I was supposed to go to say they'll match Exeter's price. I agreed to switch. Big mistake.
Appointments, they never have times available like they promised. In my line of work it's really difficult to get out of work. I can't just leave an hour early or come in late. I am sitting here right now and my daughter has the first appointment of the day and I they are 30 minutes behind.
During the 2 years of the process. Appointments, Appointments, Appointments! They never have APPOINTMENTS!
We are now finished up. They set the bar so high (sarcasm). So we make an appointment to have my daughter's braces taken off. 10 o'clock in the morning. They tell me I haven't set up an appointment for her retainers. I'm like what? Isn't that all in the same? When you get the braces off they make the retainers right there and you leave with them. They're like no, you need an appointment. I told them this is unacceptable. And the reason for for this is because just moments ago I was speaking to the Dr. about having permanent retainers put on because 50% of my family already have them. Mind you it would be another $500 for 2 little wires glued on. But anyhow, the Dr. says the the teeth will move the most in the first 6 months and it's important to make a decision.
Back to the appointment, they tell me that the person who makes the retainers is leaving early but they still give me an appointment at 4. Because in my mind with all those employees, that's a you problem and not a me problem. We get there at 4 and the retainers don't fit. The top one just falls off of her teeth and the bottom has a tone of gaps.
They then proceed to tell me that I need to come back Monday, 3 days later. Take off another day of work and pull my daughter out of school again. They had no after school appointments available. Again UNACCEPTABLE. This is your screw up. And for a 10 minute visit. They squeezed us in at 6. They fit the second time.
When we got our retainers at Exeter, we waited right there, they took about 20 minutes to make and clean up.
Spark is all about the bling and not about the customer. It's a classic case of them taking on to many customers for that all might dollar. read more